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Frontiers March 2014 Issue

more than 30 feet (9 meters) wider than
the span of the 777. It is greater than
the wingspan of the 747-8. The new
wing also will have 45 percent more
area than the composite wing on the
787 Dreamliner.
The 777X, which recently completed
the first phase of high-speed wind-tunnel
testing, is incorporating material
and design lessons from the 787, as
well as from the 777—the first Boeing
jetliner to include a composite vertical
fin and horizontal stabilizer.
“It’s fun for me to be working on a
composite wing on this airplane, which
builds on that technology we first
worked with on the original 777,” said
Jess Trostle, engineering leader on the
777X wing design team.
Trostle and other engineers
designing the new airplane recalled
that the 777, which entered airline
service in 1995, was initially considered
“too large a leap in technology” by some
because of its innovations. Among
other things, it was the first commercial
airplane designed entirely on computers;
the first two-engine jetliner designed
to fly on long-haul international routes,
thanks to the largest jet engines
ever developed; and Boeing’s first
fly-by-wire commercial aircraft.
The 777X also will introduce
features new to commercial airplanes,
but those will be combined with proven
materials and design elements, said
Bob Feldmann, Commercial Airplanes
vice president and general manager
for the 777X.
“The 777X is a huge leap in capability
20 Frontiers March 2014